New member here. I was going to post in the New Member forum but that seems all but dead. Figure no point as some of the posts on the front page were not even from this year.

That being said, wow...talk about addicting. A recent trip to the Gulf Coast had me fascinated on what might just be the best hobby I've ever seen. My passion for sailing, skiiing / snowboarding, and the water...all merged.

I'm still in training. Started with a small 2 line snapshot kite then moved up to my current Tensor 5.0. That has been amazingly fun (although its more sluggish than I expected) and flys in almost no wind. Currently still training on land, mastering kite control and what not. Hoping to move on to my next kite (maybe a leading edge inflatable) like the Naish Ride in a larger size. Also plan to join up with a local group and/or instructor before hitting the water. Amazing sport. Wish I had found it sooner in life.

If anyone has any good recommendations for my first Water Kite (besides the Naish Ride), please let me know. My tensor 5.0 has been great on land but I'm eager to get wet. I'm a big guy at 210 lbs and winds in my area typically average around 10 mph with gusts in the teens.

coleman wrote:at your weight and the conditions in dallas you will be on an 11-13m 90% of the time.

i would say go for a good 10-11m kite first and a good all around board like an ocean rodeo mako for your lake chop.

That doesn't sound right if he really does have local winds of "10mph with gusts in the teens". For conditions like that, you need a light wind kite (Blade Fat Lady, Naish Fly, etc.). But in reality, conditions that light are not good for learning and really aren't much fun for anybody. The best conditions to learn in are a wind speed of 15-25mph and that would indicate a kite size of around 13-14m for someone at 210lbs.

Keep in mind that once you really get into it, you will want at least 2 kites. A 14m kite for most days and a 10m for when the wind picks up.

If I were starting over, I'd probably be looking at getting a Caution Spitfire for a couple of reasons - they sell direct (less expensive) and are very durable (beginners crash their kites a lot).

Thor - Wind conditions in Dallas are more than the Talbert stated.It is the middle of summer and wind is dead as hell now.As Talbert gains more experience, he will find out that Dallas has many days that are way beyond 10-15mph.The right first kite for him would be a 12M.A good quiver would be 8/12/17M.

Talbert, we have a pretty active group of kiters in DFW (60 or so). Like most places our best winds are spring and fall. We do get winter cold fronts that bring wind and some south wind days before the cold front (get a wet suit to participate). There is at least one guy who teaches in DFW lakes, I forget his name but google it. Jeff Howard teaches at Prokite Surf in Corpus if you get down there.

We are now officially in the dog days. We will get very little wind till fall. We will make trips to Corpus to get a ride. I am bigger than you and ride a 15m most of the time. We have a lot of days that are 18 - 25 mph and quite a few that get into the 30's. There is a facebook page called Dallas Kiteboarding Meetup Group that can be interesting and helpful.

Get some lessons and then come to the lake. We look forward to meeting ya...

The wainman boss would be a great first kite. I have the 9m smoke and those kites are phenomenal for smoothing out gusty wind but they are very very responsive as well. Super durable and relaunch very easily.